Golf accessory for keeping the golf grip dry

ABSTRACT

A device is provided to assist a golfer in keeping the golf grip of their clubs dry if they are compelled to lay a club on the ground. In particular, a disk-like member is adapted to be received on the shaft of a golf club in such a way that when the golf club is laid down on the ground, the disk-like member prevents the golf grip from contacting the ground, and thereby helps to keep the grip dry.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/776,791, filed on Feb. 27, 2006. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to golf accessories and more particularly to a device for keeping a grip of a golf club dry.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Golf is a complex sport in that many factors can play into the results of any particular shot. Some of the factors are out of a golfer's control, like environmental conditions such as wind, rain and grass height. Other factors can involve the golfer's equipment such as their spikes and the golf clubs themselves. As is well known in the golf community, most successful golfers have practiced their shots repeatedly and have learned to be consistent with performing their swing. Anything that can negatively affect the golfers consistency, can detract from his shot. Thus, slippery grass, or slippery golf grips can be a detriment to a golfer.

Because of the popularity of the game of golf, golfers are additionally challenged to play at a reasonable pace. To assist in keeping a reasonable pace on the course, golfers will often grab more than one golf club from their golf bag and make a decision as to which club to use once they arrive at their ball. In addition, in the case of a short chip shot near the green, golfers will often grab their pitching wedge or sand wedge in addition to their putter, before leaving their golf cart on the cart path. One problem that golfers often encounter is that they have to lay one of their clubs on the ground in order to take a shot. Because the grass on a golf course is often wet, the golf grip can become wet and/or dirty, and unless it is properly dried, the wet golf grip can negatively affect the user's swing.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a device to assist a golfer in keeping the golf grip of their clubs dry if they are compelled to lay a club on the ground. In particular, the present disclosure provides a disk-like member that is adapted to be received on the shaft of a golf club in such a way that when the golf club is laid down on the ground, the disk-like member prevents the golf grip from contacting the ground, and thereby helps to keep the grip dry. In addition, the device keeps the grip elevated so that the club can be lifted up by inserting another club or a user's foot under the elevated portion of the club and lifted up to be grasped by the user. This reduces the amount of bending over that a golfer does, thereby reducing strain on their back.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a golf accessory for keeping the grip of a golf club dry, according to the principles of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the golf accessory shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.

With reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the golf accessory 10 according to the principles of the present disclosure will now be described. The golf accessory 10 includes a generally disc-shaped body 12 that is adapted to be attached to a grip portion 14 of a golf club 16. The disc shaped body 12, when attached to the golf club, prevents the grip portion 14 of the golf club 16 from contacting the ground.

The disc-shaped body 12, as shown, includes a circular periphery 17, although other shapes such as square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon or other similar shapes can be used. The disc-shaped body 12 includes a centrally located aperture 18 that receives the grip portion 14 or shaft of the golf club 16. An open slot 20 communicates with the aperture 18 and includes inwardly angled side faces 22, 24 extending from the outer periphery 17 of the disk-shaped body 12 to the aperture 18. An additional closed-ended slot 26 extends from the aperture 18 in a direction generally opposite from the open slot 20. The disc-shaped body 12 is preferably made from a plastic material and the outer periphery adjacent to the closed-ended slot 26 defines a living hinge portion 30. The living hinge portion 30 can have a thickness (T) in a radial direction, equal to or smaller than a diameter (D) of said aperture 18. The living hinge portion 30 allows the disc-shaped body 12 to receive the shaft or grip portion 14 of the golf club between the inwardly angled side faces 22, 24, and with slight force, the side faces 22, 24 of the open slot 20 open up to receive the grip portion or shaft portion within the aperture 18. The closed-ended slot 26 and living hinge portion 30 allow the easy insertion and removal of the shaft portion or grip portion 14 into the aperture 18.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, each side face 34 of the disk-shaped body includes two surface areas on which indicia 36 can be printed or molded into the surface. Examples of indicia include, but are not limited to advertising indicia, promotional indicia, event indicia and instructional indicia providing instructions on how to use the golf accessory 10. Example instructional indicia 36 can include “Slide Up Club Shaft to Grip, Lay on Grass-Grip Stays Dry, Lift with Other Club, Fits in Pocket.”

The device 10 also keeps the grip 14 elevated so that the club 16 can be lifted up by inserting another club or a user's foot under the elevated portion of the club and lifted up to be grasped by the user. 

1. A device for keeping a grip portion of a golf club dry, comprising: a disk-shaped body having a central aperture and an open slot extending from said central aperture to a periphery of said disk-shaped body, a closed-ended slot extends radially from said aperture and defines a living hinge portion between an end portion of said closed-ended slot and said periphery of said disk-shaped body, said disk-shaped body being adapted to be mounted to a shaft of a golf club by receiving the shaft in said central aperture.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said disk-shaped body includes first and second faces, wherein at least one of said first and second faces includes indicia printed thereon.
 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said living hinge portion has a thickness in a radial direction that is smaller than a diameter of said aperture.
 4. A device for keeping a grip portion of a golf club dry, comprising: a disk-shaped body having a central aperture and an open slot extending from said central aperture to a periphery of said disk-shaped body, said disk-shaped body includes first and second faces, wherein at least one of said first and second faces includes indicia printed thereon. 